The Leapmotor C01 Is A Chinese EV With 542 HP And A $26,770 Pricetag

542 hp and a base price of just $26,770 would make the C01 from Chinese EV brand Leapmotor one of the most desirable performance vehicles here in the United States. It might even take a bite out of traditional brands but alas, we’ll never know. The C01 isn’t coming to America but it’s still a very noteworthy sedan.

Leapmotor has only been around for a few years and according to CarNewsChina, they’ve had a bumpy start. Evidently, the brand failed to register its original production facility properly and then had to hunt down the proper permit after the fact. The brand hopes that the C01 is a major turning point.

Leapmotor says that the sedan can rocket from 0-100 km/h (62 mph) in just three seconds. That would put it on par with cars that cost at least twice that much if not considerably more here in the United States. That’s to say nothing of the wild dealer markups that are happening right now either.

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Powering the C01 will be a 90 kWh battery pack with a maximum range of 717 km (445 miles). According to Leapmotor, five different trim levels will be available at launch. The base version will still have an impressive 500 km (310 mile) range.

From what it sounds like, the brand plans to simply limit range through software because they haven’t mentioned plans to use anything other than the 90 kWh battery pack. Of course, that could change at any time.

The inside of the C01 looks pretty enticing too thanks to a trio of large infotainment displays on the dashboard. While not nearly as sleek as Mercedes-Benz’s stunning Hyperscreen, the C01 gives off those vibes.

Even though the brand might have had struggles in the past, they’ve reported nearly 10,000 total deliveries and only seem to be speeding up. The C01 doesn’t have a specific production date but the company is accepting reservations as of May 10 and aims to begin production before the end of the year.